Inspiration for Leaders

Thursday, May 31, 2012

A well known speaker in education circles and one of the
"10 Most Influential People in Ed Tech for 2011" kicked off the
LHRIC's annual Tech Expo held at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff
Manor April 27.

David Warlick,
the author of four books on instructional technology and contemporary literacy,
and a sought-after speaker throughout the world, gave a thought-provoking
presentation on the emerging new information environment titled, "Cracking
the 'Native' Information Experience."

Mr. Warlick, a former teacher, recalled a time when the
desktop computer had not yet been invented and when calculators cost
approximately $200. "I taught in an information-scarce learning
environment," said Mr. Warlick, adding that the new technology available
today has empowered students to perform better and to accomplish more.

"Today's environment is abundant with knowledge, is
networked and digital and has a direct impact on what it means to be literate
today," he said.

"Cracking the code" on the environment that young
people exist in outside of school and using that to develop new learning
experiences inside the classroom is something that Mr. Warlick strongly
advocates. Hyper-connected learners, he said, find each other and then share
their knowledge, ideas and skills, turning them into what he described as
"responsive learning."

Society, he said, is very much in tune with the responsive
learning experience. "Google has turned us into a question-asking
culture," noted Mr. Warlick, adding that there is a real sense of
connection between people and learning through conversation. This generation of
learners wants to know the rules that exist in order to reach their goals.
"In the traditional classroom, we never did that. We need to approach
these children in their native information environment."

An example of how students can invest themselves in the
learning process, said Mr. Warlick, occurred when a teacher at Beacon High School,
a progressive public high school in New
York City, had a problem getting her students
interested in Shakespeare's play, Othello. The solution: ask them to create a
movie trailer based on their understanding of the play and then get other students,
presumably those who will be studying the play in the future, interested in it.

Mr. Warlick said the purpose of school has changed.
"Part of the native information experience means that students often
succeed best by getting it wrong," he added. In fact, students should be
thinking about what they did and then considering how they might change it.

In many ways, he added, it's about making formal learning
more playful and giving students permission to make those mistakes. "It is
a learning experience that is responsive, that provokes conversation, inspires
personal investment and is guided by safely-made mistakes."

This, added Mr. Warlick, is requiring educators to rethink
education. "It's not a race to the top; it's about being joyful,
explorative, discovering information, and being inventive. Sometimes that can
be as simple as the teacher who says, 'surprise me'."